A review by bucketsjen
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

adventurous dark funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Good enjoyable read. It was a surprisingly hopeful story, especially given the premise. I went into the book completely blind, a friend handed it to me and said I'd like it. It was fun to be surprised as certain things kept getting added which you'd know if you read the synopsis or even the back of the book. A 19 year old transgender woman who flees an abusive family and is a violin prodigy... a violin teacher who made a deal with Hell and now has to deliver 7 souls or else her own is forfeit...  
a space alien family fleeing a galactic war and plague
who now run a donut shop . The book is weird, with those things, but it's delightful. 

There were a couple spots where it felt like "more" was needed to fulfill a particular storyline or character arc, which stopped me from feeling completely fulfilled.   A character from early on reappears briefly in the second half
and it gives the impression they'll do more... but then they drift out again until the last few pages
. It felt incomplete. Another character does something horrific and it's not REALLY addressed.
They kill a bigot, that's fine and dandy... but also murder the person the bigot is dating, who they have a crush on, while hating themselves for even liking them
. That was jarring.
They get put into a stasis and don't directly appear again but that's it. I wish something different had been done there
.

The ending is good but on the contrived side.

All that said, the book really was overall enjoyable. 

There's multiple minor plotlines woven in that I loved, and a big theme running through it all of what it means to be human and a person and alive, and of joy and soul.

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